We’ve waded through Spitgate in Philadelphia and the AFC West’s pit stop in Brazil to finally reach the first Sunday of the 2025 NFL season.
And while Thursday’s and Friday’s prime-time games packed plenty of punch, Sunday is no slouch — it never is.
We’ll see Micah Parsons’ debut and quickly get some semblance of whether it will upset the balance in the NFC North as the Green Bay Packers host the Detroit Lions.
The Aaron Rodgers-Justin Fields switcheroo might be the most intriguing storyline in Sunday’s early window of games. Rodgers’ Pittsburgh Steelers face Fields’ New York Jets, with the two quarterbacks entering 2025 with much to prove.
And, of course, Sunday night’s Baltimore Ravens-Buffalo Bills clash is a matchup of teams that can’t seem to escape each other in the quest for AFC supremacy. How will it unfold this time?
The Athletic’s NFL writers Mike Sando, Jeff Howe and Zak Keefer are on hand to discuss the rest of Week 1’s happenings and what intrigues them the most.
The Steelers and Jets, who essentially swapped quarterbacks this offseason, meet in the early window Sunday. What is your level of confidence in Rodgers’ Steelers tenure? What is your level of confidence in Fields’ Jets tenure?
Howe: It’s easy to talk myself into Rodgers bouncing back. He’s two years post-injury, has linked up with a respected offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith and has some intriguing skill pieces around him and a defense that should relieve some pressure. But it’s been four years since Rodgers has had a good season, so a ton has to go right for a 41-year-old QB to turn it around. The odds aren’t favorable. Fields had a strong start with the Steelers before his benching due to a sputtering offense, and I’m not sure the setup with the Jets can be considered an improvement. Though it’d be a great story to see Fields get on the right track, it’s been a long time since a Jets quarterback has sustained any level of success.
Keefer: I’m not convinced either situation will work out. In Pittsburgh, one of the league’s youngest — and still unproven — offensive lines will be protecting its oldest quarterback. As Jeff mentioned, it’s been four long years since he was really good, with an Achilles rupture in between. It’s far more probable the Steelers are a mediocre, third-place team in the AFC North. I don’t see the Jets having a good year — the Alijah Vera-Tucker injury is brutal — but I do believe Aaron Glenn is planting the seeds necessary for a long-term and much-needed overhaul.
Sando: I’m confident Rodgers will upgrade the position for Pittsburgh, which isn’t hard to do. But there will be growing pains in a new offense with new pieces, and I wonder if Rodgers can hold up physically. Maybe they can win a few layoff games. I’m not expecting much more than that.
Suddenly, Lions-Packers is more intriguing with Parsons in the fold. How much does his addition in Green Bay change things in the NFC North hierarchy for this season?
Howe: I liked the Packers to win the division before the Parsons trade. And if enough things went right, I thought they could have been NFC contenders. Now they’re on the short list. The Packers’ question marks don’t feel as extreme as the coordinator changes in Detroit and the QB change for the Minnesota Vikings, so it’s their division for the taking. If Jordan Love is as good as I think he can be, the Packers have the pieces to compete for a Super Bowl.
Keefer: For me, it’s enough to push the Packers past the Lions in the division race. Detroit, remember, was gashed on defense late last season and still gutted out December and January wins over Green Bay and Minnesota to earn the NFC North title. With some key pieces back, like Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit remains a Super Bowl contender. But give credit where it’s due: The Parsons move is the kind that gets a team over the hump. The Packers could win it all this year if Love stays healthy and the receivers level up.
Sando: Parsons’ addition means Green Bay can claim to have the best roster in the division, or at least be even with Detroit. But so much more goes into building a team than simply acquiring the best talent. I need to see how Parsons assimilates and fits before saying the division is Green Bay’s to lose.
Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons speaks during an introductory news conference at Lambeau Field. (Tork Mason / Imagn Images)Houston Texans-Los Angeles Rams seems like a sneaky-good matchup in Week 1. Are we underplaying or overplaying Rams QB Matthew Stafford’s back issues at this point? Are we underplaying or overplaying Texans RB Joe Mixon’s ankle injury and its impact on Houston’s offense as he sits out at least the first four games?
Howe: I don’t like the sounds of a lingering back problem for anyone, let alone a 37-year-old quarterback who has taken a litany of grueling hits throughout his career. When Stafford was at his best last season, he was a second-tier QB. Combine that with the Rams’ youth movement and this looks like a team with untapped potential, but it won’t matter if Stafford has trouble getting through the season. I’m wary of a team reaching its ceiling when it has that many question marks. As for Mixon, my concern is with C.J. Stroud, who was a punching bag behind a bad offensive line last season. The line is in a better place now, but I’d still feel better about the Texans if they can reduce the amount of pressure on Stroud’s shoulders.
Keefer: There’s no such thing as a minor back injury. Ask any NFL player — ask anyone, period — who has dealt with the issue. This concern is probably the biggest hurdle between the Rams and Super Bowl contention. They’re that good, with a defense that improved considerably over the course of last season and a new weapon in Davante Adams. (No team gave Philadelphia a tougher time in last year’s postseason.) Mixon’s absence will be big for Houston, but the bigger concern is the reworked offensive line. That was a big bet from general manager Nick Caserio, and until I see them prove it on Sundays, it will remain a question mark in my mind. That’s one of the leading reasons Stroud didn’t improve upon his stellar rookie season.
Sando: The back is a legitimate storyline until Stafford shows he’s fine in the first few weeks. This Houston pass rush is formidable and will get its hits on Stafford, so we might find out early just how well his back is going to hold up. I’m less focused on Mixon than the Texans offensive line. It’s the big key for Stroud feeling comfortable again.
The Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills — and the league’s last two MVPs, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen — open the season on “Sunday Night Football.” Did either team do enough this offseason to help its quarterback get over the hump and make the Super Bowl this year?
Howe: I like the way the Bills remade their defense in a short time. There’s certainly risk in putting too much on Allen’s plate to drive the whole offense, but he at least has a growing defense to help him. The Bills are still Super Bowl contenders, but someone other than Allen has to make a play when it matters in the postseason. They’re not dissimilar to the Ravens. We know they’ll be there in January, and Jackson has been better in the playoffs than earlier in his career, which makes me believe they’re also a couple of plays away from contending for a Super Bowl. Zach Orr should continue improving as a defensive coordinator, too, so I’m intrigued by that group’s potential this season.
Keefer: Sometimes when you’re as close as the Bills and Ravens have been over the years, it’s not about one piece. These teams aren’t a player away. They’re a play away. Behind Philadelphia, Baltimore has the deepest roster in the league, and another 13- or 14-win season is in store. Sean McDermott deserved Coach of the Year votes for the work he did remaking his defense in 2024, and they were a play or two away from winning in Arrowhead in the AFC Championship Game. For these teams, the regular season is moot. Nothing matters until January, when both will have another chance to get past the Kansas City Chiefs and make it to the Super Bowl.
Sando: I think these teams are just staying in the window to take another swing, rather than doing enough to definitively get over the top. It’s been a maturation process over the last couple of years, and I like where these teams stand in that regard. A case can be made, however, for Baltimore pushing a little more.
We’ll see a pair of highly anticipated debuts in Minnesota Vikings-Chicago Bears on Monday night. What intrigues you the most about Bears coach Ben Johnson’s takeover in Chicago? What does success realistically look like for Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy as the season begins?
Howe: The league quickly cooled on Caleb Williams. If Johnson unlocks the QB’s potential, it’ll look like an all-time great hire because of Williams’ high-end traits. But we still need to see it before assuming the fit will work. McCarthy is going to run a relatively vanilla offense out of the gates, which is fine because the Vikings will play great defense and have the offensive pieces to carry the load. If McCarthy can minimize mistakes and help the Vikings score in the 20s every week, they’ll be a playoff team.
Keefer: The most intriguing player in football in 2025 is Williams. Johnson’s arrival adds a layer of intrigue in this way: His success as a coach in this league has come with a disciplined, technical, savvy quarterback — Detroit’s Jared Goff — who operated a deep, talented unit exceedingly well. Having one of the NFL’s best offensive lines helped. Williams, in a lot of ways, is the opposite of Goff; he won a Heisman as a sandlot-type quarterback whose athleticism was his superpower. That never-say-die attitude buried Williams last season, as he held on to the ball too long and suffered a league-high 68 sacks. If Johnson succeeds in Chicago, it’ll be because he molds Williams into the type of quarterback he’s never been. It’ll be endlessly fascinating to watch.
Sando: Johnson’s treatment of players, and specifically of Williams, is really interesting to watch. He has talked tough and been blunt, which I like in one respect; it’s easier for coaches to back off later than try to get tough after being soft early.
Success for McCarthy means starting nearly all the games and reaching the playoffs. That’s an unrealistic bar for most rookies (he missed last season with a torn meniscus), but the team’s decision to hand a 14-win team to him (while leading the NFL in cash spending this year) makes the expectations clear.
(Top photos of Aaron Rodgers and Micah Parsons: Barry Reeger and Tork Mason / Imagn Images)